RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 8 -- In the 28th round of the 2011 Brazilian Championship, Botafogo battled to a 2-2 draw against Bahia on Saturday, Coritiba cooled Gremio's winning-streak with a 2-0 win and America-MG and Atletico-MG struggled to a scoreless draw.
The round's first day saw a 3-3 draw between Cruzeiro and Sao Paulo on October 5.
Bahia's head coach Joel Santana was formerly the head coach of Botafogo, making for additional fanfare in Saturday's match.
Santana's team scored first in the 28th minute when Marcos lofted the ball across the front of the goal where Souza freely tapped it into the back of the goal.
Returning to the second half, Botafogo reacted quickly and took the lead with two goals within two minutes. The tying goal came in the 55th minute when Elkeson centered the ball to a wide-open Alex who easily tapped the ball into goal.
Immediately after, the home team claimed the lead in the 57th minute when Caio followed up a Elkeson shot-on-goal, slipping the ball past a diving keeper Marcelo Lombo.
Botafogo ceded the draw off a silly defensive error by Marcelo Mattos, called for holding the jersey of Fahel inside of the penalty box. Souza commanded the penalty kick and converted by lightly driving the ball into the center of goal while reserve keeper Renan dove helplessly to the left.
The result was beneficial to neither team as Botafogo remains in fourth place with 46 points, but stands at risk of dropping into fifth place if there is a winner between fifth place Fluminense and sixth place Flamengo in tomorrow's cross-town showdown. Bahia remains firm in 14th place with 34 points.
In the 29th round of play, Botafogo will travel to face a direct opponent in the race for this year's title when play Corinthians on October 12. On the same day, Bahia will receive Cruzeiro.
In another match on Saturday, a red-hot Gremio traveled to face Coritiba.
Coritiba took an early lead in the 14th minute when Leo Gago's long range shot-on-goal slammed off the goalpost and bounced back towards to a wide-open Marcos Aurelio who knocked the ball past a defenseless keeper Victor.
The team increased its lead in the 74th minute when Jeci headed a corner kick into the upper left corner of the Gremio goal.
The win propels Coritiba into seventh place with 40 points. However, the team will likely receive a readjustment after the round's completion on Sunday. After a three-game winning streak, Gremio drops to tenth place with 39 points.
In the next round of play, Gremio will receive Figueirense on October 12 while Coritiba will travel to face Fluminense on the following day.
In the only other match of the day, inner state rivals America-MG and Atletico-MG faced each other. In an eventless game, the game ended in a scoreless draw. The result keeps America-MG in 20th and last place with 21 points, but improves Atletico-MG to 17th place with 27 points.
The third and final day of the 28th round will carry matches between cross-town rivals Flamengo and Fluminense; Corinthians is expected to celebrate the debut of polemic striker Adriano as they host Atletico-GO; leader Vasco da Gama will visit Internacional; Santos will host rival Palmeiras, Ceara receives Figueirense and Avai will play host to Atletico-PR.